Weights chief stays put for drug inquiry

Australian weightlifting president Sam Coffa will continue in
his Commonwealth Games roles despite the far-reaching drug inquiry
being undertaken in the sport.

Federal Sports Minister Rod Kemp said he would wait until the
inquiry was complete before looking at Mr Coffa's other positions,
but believed the most important thing was that Mr Coffa had
expressed support for the inquiry.

When asked about his faith in Australian weightlifting
management, Senator Kemp said the Government would act on the basis
of the inquiry's outcome. But Mr Coffa is clearly a man on notice
in regards to the Federal Government, which is waiting for
financial statements before releasing nearly $200,000 in grant
funds to the sport.

The new inquiry, initiated by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping
Authority, will use federal police, customs and other government
agencies as well as its own powers to investigate allegations of
drug use in the sport.

The inquiry was initiated after allegations of sports drug
trafficking by Games competitor Belinda Van Tienen, four recent
positive drug cases among weightlifters, of whom one is facing a
life ban for his second drug offence, and the conviction of another
Victorian weightlifter, Keith Murphy, in the Victorian Supreme
Court for trafficking of steroids.

It is uncertain whether the inquiry will go back as far as the
Manchester Commonwealth Games, where Mr Coffa's son-in-law,
Sevdalin Marinov was an official team coach despite having served a
previous four-year ban for testing positive to steroids.

Mr Coffa is the president of the Australian Commonwealth Games
Association and vice-chairman of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth
Games organising committee. He said the timing of the inquiry was
disgusting and would distract lifters competing at the Games, but
he said he would support the inquiry.

Anti-doping authority chairman Richard Ings said there was no
good time to make such an announcement and he had acted as soon as
he had received relevant information.

"We will not hesitate to use every power, every relationship at
our disposal," Mr Ings said.

M2006 chairman Ron Walker, also the chairman of John Fairfax,
said he had some sympathy for the position Mr Coffa found himself
in and understood his outrage over the timing of the inquiry. Mr
Walker said Mr Coffa was a valued member of the Games board.

"It is probably an emotional statement by Sam," Mr Walker said.
"Everybody who has a similar role to Sam would be saying the same
thing if they were involved in a sport (undergoing an inquiry). I
have some sympathy for him.

"Sam has made a great contribution to the board and I can
understand his preoccupation at the moment in protecting his team
"

The inquiry will start immediately and be headed by hard-hitting
US lawyer Richard Young.

Yesterday Mr Coffa told ABC radio that he did not believe the
inquiry was wide-ranging.